Workington Town forward Marc Shackley hopes he’ll make his return to the side this weekend after recovering from surgery.

The prop underwent micro-fracture surgery on his knee in the off-season and missed both pre-season fixtures and Town’s opening game against Sheffield Eagles.

After making a return to full training, Shackley hopes to be in line for selection for Sunday’s game away at Dewsbury Rams.

“I’m feeling good and I’ll be doing full-contact in training this week,” Shackley said.

“Hopefully, I’ll have a good reaction and I’ll be available for selection.

“But it’s all right being back in training, I still need to make sure I get picked in the side.

“I know I’m not going to be match-fit straight away, but the only way you can get that is through playing.”

Aussie prop forwards Ryan Verlinden and Oliver Gordon both made their competitive debuts for Town at the weekend and the 27-year-old is looking forward to the challenge of getting back in the side.

“Those two went really well at the weekend and it’s good that we’ve got competition in the side,” he added.

“We’ve got seven props now so it’ll be tough for all of us to get a place in the matchday squad.”

Shackley said he was pleased to see captain Graeme Mattinson return to the side against Sheffield, despite the 42-12 defeat.

“Having Matty back is massive for us, especially with him being our captain,” Shackley said.

“It’ll give Callum [Phillips] the chance to have a rest because he’s done a lot of work while Graeme’s been out.

“We know we need to be more clinical this weekend against Dewsbury and we’ve signed well enough to pick up results even while people are out injured.”